Pokémon Games

Rocky29, it depends on how into these games you can get. It's all about collecting, battling til you level up (which can take an age), etc... Some people think it's great, some think it's too kiddish. It's a bit like the Marios - some people just play them and accept that they're good games, others just go "OMG ow fckin old r u LOL ghey".

Snoop, you go to the next town. If you look at the badges she's actually the fifth one, so you have to fight two different leaders before you can go back and battle her.
 
Jack Bauer said:
Rocky29, it depends on how into these games you can get. It's all about collecting, battling til you level up (which can take an age), etc... Some people think it's great, some think it's too kiddish. It's a bit like the Marios - some people just play them and accept that they're good games, others just go "OMG ow fckin old r u LOL ghey".

Snoop, you go to the next town. If you look at the badges she's actually the fifth one, so you have to fight two different leaders before you can go back and battle her.
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I've played pokemon games before, Jack. I just wanna know if it's worth the money for basically the same game since red/blue with some minor graphical adjustments and new pokemon.
 
And a new story! Well ... kinda, still fun though, regardless of playing any others :)
 
Oh right, well I think it is. The online modes alone are worth the money.
 
20070528.jpg


http://www.penny-arcade.com

I love these guys
 
@Chris Davies is it ok to revive this thread for general pojemon gaming? I mean everything, official games, modded games (romhacks) etc?? I want to post some things but i do not want to open a new thread. Also as i found, you used to play pokemon too back in 2007! So you are a comrade!

I have seen others from time to time mentioning about pkmn games rarely. I understand that now most of us are over 30 years old and have stopped playing pkmn, but you never know.
PS.: I plan to make a big-rant post about my complaints and suggestions on pokemon core games and i wish to do it here, cause in the "hardcore" pokemon exclusive-forums, every time i criticised the games 10 years ago, i was hammered down by the the hardcores and blind loyals.
This month i play Sun and Ultra Moon in my 3DS, drayanos moded Platinum, Heart Gold on PC emulator and i am ready to buy Sword and Shield on Christmas.
 
Chris Davies said:
Go for it @slamsoze - I'll rename the thread.
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Thank you very much @Chris . So i go. Many things to mention , many ideas, complains, many stories.

First of all let's start a little bit reversed, to connect with the old topic title , which was about pokemon diamond (and pearl possibly). I played Diamond and Pearl first time back in the days, on emulator. i did not like Sinnoh from the first run, but as time passed, it ended to be of my favorite games and regions. Especially the third version the Pokemon Platinum was a very decent third version. These days i am playing on emulator, Drayano's Renegade Platinum which is a very good Platinum HACK* (*Hacks in pokemon gaming world are patches to modify the original games, it is type of MODS). For the record Drayano is a very Decent modder, having created blaze black/volt white, sacred gold/soulsilver, firered omega etc etc.
Next let's go for the set up...
 
The set up:

As we use to say "very old player from ISS days":COOL: , i will keep on the cliche and say, very old player here since the Red/Blue/Yellow on Gameboy. I have played almost every game from Red/Blue back on 1999 on gameboy, up to the 3DS game Ultra Moon, with the one or the other way. Technically i have played everything.

Practically i have not still finished Saphire/Ruby/Black/White/White2/Y/Moon/Ultra Sun. My collection is: Red,Blue,Yellow,Gold,Silver for GB. Stadium 1 & 2 for N64. HeartGold, Black 2 for DS, X,Y,Sun, Ultra Moon for 3DS. And i plan to go for Sword and Shield on Switch this Xmas. The rest games , i have old played them on emulators.

So having said this i can say i am a pokemon RPG fan. I was a complete pokemon fan back in 1999 in my 13's. I read the manga pokemon adventures, i watched the anime, which i stopped after the second season (the silver conference), when i realized that the show is completely a promo without a serious plot and that it is targeted to bring new little kids to the franchise.

Starting from Red and Blue, i can't hide, that i had zero clue back in 1999 when i bought the game,about Pokemon. I purchased the games, cause there were from the last published for GameBoy and because of an advertisement and an article i read in a magazine back then. The game proved much different from what i expected, no Youtube back then, no Google, not even Yahoo for god shake!!! I just made a blind purchase. From the magazine i expected a platform game where you would have to chase little monsters and catch them. But the game had very different content to offer. Additionally to this i had neither zero clue about J-rpgs and RPGs at general. So the whole concept was very strange to the 13 me. Turned Based battles ( I WILL ANALYZE ON THIS LATTER) , complete world with towns, no stages, having to speak to everyone to progress to the story...Everything seemed so difficult for me , so boring, so disappointing.

I played it very rare in the beginning, leaving it to dust in my shelf. I used to power it up every weekend after the anime episodes, just to make the comparisons. And then the miracle happened. I started figuring out the mechanics, i became familiar with the battle system, i started loving the RPG play style, explore the towns/cities/dungeons, talk to everyone that may give you a useful tip.

As i had not yet had access to Internet ,faqs, cheats, walkthrough , was something out of space for me. This resulted to some funny points like, i released free my first starter, BULBASAUR, over-grinding my Pidgey, which ended in a 100LVL Pidgeot, in the very endgame one-shot sweeping everything and me being stuck in the point where i had to play for two months the game, without being able to advance past Vermillion City , as i did not know how to use the HM01 Cut, to cut the bushes in the overworld! It was also responsible me, who did not pay attention to SS Anne captain, when he gifted me with the HM01. Cause in his text he explains pretty clear what CUT does, shame one me!

The rest are history, i completed the game, my save corrupted after some months, due to the many play-hours possibly, i restarted having the knowledge , i battled friends, i traded with friends, thanks to gameboy link cable, i started also my Red Version, i completed it too. I had a BLue save where i had 149 pokemon, except for Electabuzz, which was EXTREMELY FAKIN RARE!! I was seeking it for months, with not any success. This was my one and only closest attempt to complete a pokedex. I did not have neither MEW, but it was only available by Nintendo special events, which were not a thing back in the 1999-2000.
 
The rest History:

The rest are history, i played with my mons on N64, i bought GOLD and SILVER which are my favorites versions until today ( i will explain latter why). Latter i played Ruby/SAphire on GBA emulator and so on...LAtter the G/S remakes heartgold and soulsilver were the reason for me to buy a NDS and a N3DS after this, cause i love Johto, as i said before. So this is my background, i played every pokemon game, i like the story, i like the explorations, the completion, the re-playability. It also created me a love for RPG and J-RPG genre .

Besides pokemon, i loved also games like Chrono Trigger, MOTHER aka EARTHBOUND (one of the best j-RPGS EVER), Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Zelda, Digimon, Medabots, etc, etc, etc.

Back to pokemon, one of the things i noticed since the beginning, is that as long as the games progress to newer versions, they become much more easy, possibly cause the target group is little kids and not kids that grew up with Pokemon. Everything becomes very easy, the level curve, the dungeons are more simplistic, the story becomes more linear, IG i cannot think how someone could get stuck for 2 months, like i did back in Blue. Everything is self-explained, there are help,tips everywhere, internet is spoiling the fun.


Coming to today, and being to the 25% completion of Ultra Moon, although i have completed Sun which is almost identical game (this is also another topic of discussion about Nintendo tactics), i can say that Pokemon is not a bad game, bad it is not fascinating as it used to be in the first years. And one of the most important reasons, except of the obvious, that we get old, is that the games have been almost the same since 1999. The core things, story, battle style are 90% the same the last 20 years. It does not mean it is completely outdated, but a refresh is needed, at least to keep an old fan like me.

I can't deny that i did not want to buy neither Sun/ultra moon, nor Sword/Shield. I bought Sun/UM just to have something new to play in 3DS and i will buy Sword , just to have more game in Switch. But there are facts that could make me fall totaly in love with Pokemon RPGs again and that could make me buy future games and consoles.

MORE ON THIS NEXT.
 
WHAT CAN REALLY CHANGE?

Before start with realistic suggestions, let's begin with my wet dream: A Pokemon open world RPG on PC, or console nowadays, similar to WoW mechanics maybe, or similar battle mechanics that are used in mobas (LoL, DoTA, etc), including every known region from all core games, side games, anime, manga, etc... OK WE FORGET ABOUT THIS CAUSE OF Nintendo!!!I do not really believe that they will never go for something like this.

Let's see some more realistic possibilities:

The Region:
Until today almost every game except for GOLD/SILVER/CRYSTAL has the same structure, ONE REGION, 8 gym badges, one POKEMON LEAGUE. Sun/Moon/UltraSun/UltraMoon have trials instead of Gyms and a league with similar structure, elite four, but you are the champion and the other player is the challenger, but same as the previous versions. Sword and Shield has also similar 8 gym challenge and some weird Pokemon League.
What i cannot get over until today, is that Nintendo is always stuck on this despite the platform, hand-held or powerful console. Despite any cheap excuse, now on 2020 they could at least have 2 or 3 big regions. It is not a lie, that the most beloved games for me were G/S/C/HG/SS, which games had all the common that have two regions, after Johto you go to Kanto. Further story, better postgame content and a very nice nostalgic move, when you have to go back to the beloved Kanto and check how it progressed 3 years after.
I still remember my disappointment on Pokemon Ruby, when after Elite Four i realised that there is not an other region to explore, i was sure that there would be for sure an other new region post game (Johto) or even two more regions (Johto and Kanto)!
 
The battle system and mechanics:

The other core problem that keeps me away from loving totally the game, is the battle system. The turned based , strictly limited to one attack per turn, battle system. I have made many posts about this on Pokemon Focused FORUMS back on 2009 and one time on 2014, but the majority of the pokemon gamers community, rejected my ideas, as they feel familiar and safe in the current mechanics. For me they are trapped in a "safezone"

The current battle system of Pokemon, the same since 1999 (20 years old), for me is the main reason that i cannot find the game attractive. IMHO it does not help you create bonds with your monsters, it traps you in repetitive situations and really makes the battle look very flat.

I know that RPG is better played in turned based than real time, cause then it becomes Fighting-game. I do not want pokemon to become fighting game like Street Fighter or Pokken Tournament. But there are mechanics to be implemented, that will give fresh breath to the Battle System.

For me the changes needed in the current system, without radical changes, or creating something from scratch, is make the HP and Speed stats relevant. Until now the system is like a GLASS CANNON battle. Almost all fights in high levels, are a ONE-HIT KO fest. You don't have the time to take decisions that may change the battle, everything is used like a one-use tool, it is the complete opposite to how amazing the battles used to look back in the anime.

And the PRODIGY game that shows the road of how RPGs turned based should be played is the mobile game SUMMONERS WARS: SKY ARENA. The battle is turned-based, the attacks effectiveness is like pokemon , rock-paper-scissors BUT there is an ATTACH GAUGE that fills according to your monsters SPEED stat and its HP is multiples of thousands and not of hundreds. This makes battles last 3 or 4 turns instead of 1 max 2 turns, let's you the time to fix a wrong move, let's your pokemon last some more AND MAKES THE SPEED stas completely relevant. As i have told then, whats the point of having a Level 100 Mewtwo with 350 speed, while you can be beaten by a level 10 Rattata with quick attack ( if you have 1 HP left). Or more general , whats the point of having a Pokemon with 200 speed, when in a battle with a 50 speed pokemon, you can just attack first and then have to wait for one turn, if you don't one-hit KO it, to attack again. 200 speed means you are 4 times faster than the opponent. OK it is not a real time battle, but making speed relevant, it gives better illusion that the turned based battle is more alive. Now it is more like a CHESS game.
 
Concluding with the latest games, Sword and Shield, i had read months before, that the battle system would be refined. It was not implied if it would be an ATB battle system (Active Time Battle), but it gave promises that it would be different. And IMHO again, it was needed, we are on switch now, not in the GameBoy era anymore. But the battle mechanics are the same. Also instead of progress we are regressing, in the new games by excluding some monsters from older games. Search "DEXIT" for more about this. Mega Evolutons and Z-moves (which i do not like btw) also out of new games.

With Sword/Shield now and maybe GEN IV games (diamond/pearl) remakes, i will maybe buy them out of nostalgia or curiosity, but if there were changes like i posted before, i would be a guaranteed buyer. Now i just limit my purchases, that's why i bought only Sun and UltraMoon on 3DS. If they want to keep a costumer like me, they have to take in mind changes. But i think it is difficult, cause the people that want the battle system to remain the same, are a whole system now, forums and teams of competitive crowd, feeling familiar with the current chess-style battle. It also removes the fun and the re-playability of the game, as it is now for me, it is just 20 hours until you complete the League, the main plot and the post game (if exists).

Then it is just a stale situation that makes you a breading-eggs machine, hunting for IVs, and everything leading you just to go online and play in competitive tournaments. While pokemon games for some of us, is still just an RPG adventure trip. The exploration should be the focus, competitive PvP battles should be the extra mile, not the main focus.
 
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So here i am again. Finished my Pokemon Shield game on Switch, since January, and in the same period i finished my Pokemon Ultra Moon on my brand new Nintendo "NEW" 2DS.

In the common problems, both games suffer from what i said above. The old battle system, that holds the game 20 years back and the whole focus concept that tries to force you to go play online pvp competitive. As for POKEMON ULTRA MOON, i will give it some more time. Until now it seems i completed almost everything except for the Battle Tree, i must check it latter. If it is finished by now, for me it has even less postgame content than the Pokemon SUN/MOON. So let's focus on Pokemon Shield.

POKEMON SHIELD & SWORD* ( I have a copy of Sword, i just booted it up to receive the Kantonian Meowth mystery gift and it stays there!)

The whole games seems a little bit rushed. The world is 3D designed, but i have seen other RPGs like Ni no Kuni (having legions of better aspects on everything, graphic design, world design, much superior and sophisticated Battle system, cinema-level cinematics and cutscenes, BANDAI-NAMCO really shows the way to Nintendo on how such a game should be developed!!) being better. So the world is 3D designed and seems big in distances, but it seems-feels really empty!!! It must be the game with the biggest map and the most empty space between every aspect of the map. Small cities, very few NPCs, no really mazes and dungeons.

On the story-offline-single palyer experience, everything seems so linear and rushed. THe 8-badges GYM system is back, but it is too linear and guided, every time you complete a GYM challenge ( the gym challenges are well made and refreshing to be fair) the game takes you from hand and almost pushes you to the next GYM.

Apart from the GYMs there is almost anything you have to do. No exploration, no villain team ( it has a team but it is more a joke) no side quests. The story plot with the legendary pokemon is thinner than a paper. I do not remember a POKEMON game with such a weak story-plot. Even POKEMON X/Y had more content.

The Pokemon League tournament does not have Elite Four, it has a nice concept tourney, it could be interesting if it had more depth. The post game was just do some rinse and repeat GYM battles, then fight the evil duo, then catch the legendary pokemon of the game version AND YOU ARE FINISHED.

The only think you can do after this, is grinding and egg breading in order to create "COMPETITIVE" online-pvp Pokemon. Especially for a player like me, who does n't like to play pvp online and CANNOT either, as i don't have a Nintendo online subscription, there is really nothing i have to do in this game. Except for repeatedly grinding for Online Pokemon.

Since the end of January that i finished the game, i have never again booted the game cartridge on my console. Of course there is a Paid DLC in summer that tries to cover the DEXIT scandal, but i am not sure if i will go and pay for it, for two reasons:
1) I do not want to support this new trend of offering the game in paid parts, instead of a full game out of the box and

2) I am really sure, as i know how they are thininkg 20 years now, that the DLC will be just a Linear-paid fest with zero interest.
 
Anyone *waiting* for Scarlet/Violet? Basically, anyone still playing PKMN games? 😁
 
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